My Furry Five Legged Children

My Furry Five Legged Children!!!
Remember that sigh of relief as 2009 came to an end.......well me thinks it was somewhat premature...2010 has started in an uncannily familiar vein, I think my already strained, stretched nerves and limited patience will be severely tested this year if the first week is anything to go by!!!

The saga of my new year drama can be laid at the 8 feet of Jinx and Beast!! Have always wondered, do we choose our pets or do they choose us or much more thought provoking......is there seriously a God with a sense of humor....he must be busting his gut at my antics!!!!

Yes, I know you are all questioning my sanity & how does this dog get away with it but to be fair she is my fine furry little child! Now, in her defense she is still a puppy who was a mommy way too young but since being single again, so to speak, she has found a new lease on life & who wouldn't, finally being free of all that responsibility?? We adopted Jinx when she was pregnant and Mad as a Hatter, but a little more manageable than she is right now!!!

Jinx is highly intelligent, loves to mimic whatever the other animals are doing, is so lovable and definitely my shadow. There has been the odd fleeting thought to find her another home especially when she destroys the house but then I look into those soft gorgeous eyes as I retrieve Bern’s’ brand new shoes from her mouth and of course my heart melts!! However, there are limits to what I will put up with & I draw the line at my cell phone!!!! There are, however, 2 possible theories on the reasons for the demolition of my cell, I've been on the phone too much or just maybe they wanted my attention.....well......they got it!!! So, how did it happen.....Kitty knocked it off my bedside table in a frantic game they were playing while I was sleeping, although not for long, the crunching sound which was a dead giveaway.....was not a cuddly toy!!!

So retrieved my phone from Jinx’s drooling, smiling mouth only to have Beast disappear under the bed with it!! Yeah yeah I know..I knelt down on the floor to try & coax him out with my sweetest voice desperately trying to disguise the complete & utter frustration I was feeling, Jinx, in her profound need to help decided I needed a wet lick on my derrière!!! Oi....behave you lot!! My reaction was one of a shrill, ear piercing scream, a total disappearance of my strength and I was prostrate on the damn floor! And this is when Madam Fi decided it must be part of a new game she had not yet experienced!!




So there I am lying on the floor stretching for all my worth to try and grab my cell phone, Beast happy to chew my fingers as if to say "catch me if you can", Fiona was even more thrilled to have my ears and neck at close range and was giving me her version of mouth to ear resuscitation ??? Little boy was on my back doing a tap dance and trying to bite Jinx as she was of course in full game play mode biting my toes, then racing around the room chasing Kitty who was using me as a trampoline onto the bed only to have Jinx follow her using me as a step ladder, as I said before the floor is hard and at my age I should not be on it!!! If the phone was not a tool I need for my very survival I would have said “Oh to hell with is let them have the damn thing!” After leopard crawling into the small space under the bed, very much aware that my bottom was in imminent danger of becoming a new chew toy I managed to grab my phone with my finger tips and like a crippled slug I worked my way out of underneath the bed, still having my toes chewed and my neck nuzzled, I finally managed to crawl back into bed and glared at Bern who had slept through the whole thing! I lay there trying to catch my breath and then was hit with a fit of giggles at the whole situation. It took me a while to calm the animals down and realized I would have to let them out for them to get rid of their excitement!


The list of what has been destroyed by Jinx and Beast

One cell phone charger
One cell phone cover
One new pair of white sandals
One pair of slippers
One pair of white plastic beach shoes
Wooden window frame
Bottom part of wooden skirting on cupboard
6 teddy’s
Two balls
And this is only since the 29th December 2009. I think dog training sounds like a good idea……!!!

Or is it a case of "this is actually our fault" as I am fully aware of the fact that we did not give her the attention she so badly required at the end of 2009 with the hours we were working and the witch from hell!! I am also very much aware of the fact that Fiona is not so enamored with Jinx; hence the decision to keep Beast as a play mate for her, the problem now is that we now have two puppies who have decided that we, house and household goods are their own personal toys!! There may be the distinct possibility here that they need to be registered as Weapons of Household destruction!!

Who would have thought that a 10 week old puppy and a 10 month old dog could wreak such havoc? Not to mention Little Boy and Fiona.

I mentioned our move into our new home and the lack of water, well, I need to back track just a bit. We left the dogs with Matt and Beast with my friend while we visited the girls over Christmas knowing they would not be too happy being away from us but I also knew that Matt would do an excellent job looking after them. Fiona was the one I worried about most as somehow she's joined to me with invisible threads and seems to know when I am not in a good place in my life.

I say this in absolute honesty because when I stress or am ill she goes off her food and becomes quite snappy with the other animals so......I know there is a bond between man and beast and have experienced it on more than one occasion to not question this bond.


One thing I did not bank on however was how Little Boy felt about his perceived abandonment by Bern and I. Now Bern and Little Boy have come to an understanding & put up with each other as Little Boy tends to mark his territory in the house as little boy doggies will do however annoying it may be!! So there is a tolerance that I have to smile at. Little Boy is not allowed on the bed but being the softy he just knows that I will pretend he is not on the bed as long as he doesn’t make it too obvious... he just cannot help but be obvious!!! When he jumps on the bed throwing himself at me, does the turnaround in a circle dance that only dogs do(well.....nah only dogs!!) and then with the force of a shock wave thumps himself down on my legs.

I love the early morning game he plays. Bern is really adamant that no dogs are allowed on the bed and I see her point and am mostly in agreement, however I do make the odd exception for Little Boy as he is such a baby still and misses my girls that he cries for them after they have returned to Johannesburg after a whirl wind visit.

He waits until he see Bern get out of bed and when she is in the shower he jumps in the bed in victory and cuddles up to me and I cuddle him back. The minute the shower water is turned off; he slinks off the bed and goes to lie with Fiona sulking so obviously that I have to smile at his child like behaviour. He is fully aware that he is not allowed on the bed; but like any child will push the boundaries and play one parent up against the other.

On the day we took our clothing and few belongings to the new house we took the dogs with us as well. After Caz and Allan had left I was sitting on the pools edge and I had my feet in the pool. Bern was sweeping the pool when she yelled out at Little Boy and tapped him on his bottom in absolute horror and anger. I turned to see what was wrong, and she was really angry with him. I asked her why she smacked him and as she told me what had happened, the horror dawned on me too. It was more than obvious what she was angry about as I had this wet warm patch on my t-shirt.!

Little boy had lifted his leg and peed on me. His way of marking his territory I have been told. More likely his way of punishing me for going away. I took the t-shirt off and consoled him and he for the very first time in his life gave me an evil grin as if to say “Well let’s see if you ever leave home again!” And he trotted off and left his signature on anything and everything in the garden.

I feel so important now. I am as valuable to him as Oh let’s say the car tyre, or a plant, or a brick.!!! But he clearly sees me has his property. My girls think this is the funniest story ever and I am so pleased they see the humour in it. I watch little boy very closely now and so help me if he does that again I will throw him in the pool. Sarah says I am now Little Boy’s B &^ch…. Funny; funny

This is supposed to me my year 2010. A year of no backing down and no compromise, please will someone advise my animals that I want my life back!